Microcontroller Or Microprocessor With Dual Mode Interrupt

A method for providing interrupt functionality within a microcontroller comprising a central processing unit comprising at least one interrupt input and an interrupt controller configured to provide at least one interrupt signal to the at least one interrupt input of the central processing unit, the method comprising:

• setting a first or a second operating mode;
• receiving an interrupt by the interrupt controller;
• and
• when operating in the first operating mode, forwarding by the interrupt controller an interrupt signal to the central processing unit and setting an associated interrupt flag, wherein the interrupt causes the central processing unit to branch to a predefined interrupt address associated with the interrupt input;
• and when operating in the second operating mode, forwarding by the interrupt controller an interrupt signal to the central processing unit and receiving by the central processing unit additional interrupt information from the peripheral that generated the interrupt, wherein the additional interrupt information is used to generate a vector address.

A microcontroller comprising:

• a central processing unit comprising at least one interrupt input and a register coupled with an arithmetic logic unit;
• an interrupt controller configured to provide at least one interrupt signal to the at least one interrupt input of the central processing unit;
• a plurality of peripherals coupled with the central processing unit and the interrupt controller;
• wherein upon assertion of an interrupt by a peripheral of the microcontroller, the interrupt controller forwards an interrupt signal to the central processing unit and the central processing unit receives additional interrupt information from the peripheral that generated the interrupt, wherein the additional interrupt information or data derived from the additional interrupt information is stored in said register.